A Foodie`s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat
by Eric Holt-Gimanez (Author)

About the Author
Eric Holt-Giménez, PhD, is Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy.

About this book
Capitalism drives our global food system. Everyone who wants to end hunger, who wants to eat good, clean, healthy food, needs to understand capitalism. This book will help do that.
In his latest book, Eric Holt-Giménez takes on the social, environmental, and economic crises of the capitalist mode of food production. Drawing from classical and modern analyses, A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism introduces the reader to the history of our food systemand to the basics of capitalism. In straightforward prose, Holt-Giménez explains the political economics of why—even as local, organic, and gourmet food have spread around the world—billions go hungry in the midst of abundance; why obesity is a global epidemic; and why land-grabbing, global warming, and environmental pollution are increasing.
Holt-Giménez offers emblematic accounts—and critiques—of past and present-day struggles to change the food system, from "voting with your fork," to land occupations. We learn about the potential and the pitfalls of organic and community-supported agriculture, certified fair trade, microfinance, land trusts, agrarian reform, cooperatives, and food aid. We also learn about the convergence of growing social movements using the food system to challenge capitalism. How did racism, classism, and patriarchy become structural components of our food system? Why is a rational agriculture incompatible with the global food regime? Can transforming our food system transform capitalism? These are questions that can only be addressed by first understanding how capitalism works.

Brief contents
INTRODUCTION: Do Foodies Need to Understand Capitalism? 13
1. How Our Capitalist Food System Came to Be 23
2. Food, A Special Commodity 57
3. Land and Property 83
4. Capitalism, Food, and Agriculture 115
5. Power and Privilege in the Food System: Gender, Race, and Class 143
6. Food, Capitalism, Crises, and Solutions 175
CONCLUSION: Changing Everything: Food, Capitalism, and the Challenges of Our Time 213
Glossary 241
Notes 253
Index 274

Pages: 280 pages
Publisher: Dev Publishers & Distributors (February 1, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9789381406809
ISBN-13: 978-9381406809
ASIN: 9381406804